Fantasy Stays As It Is
by Astris C
Summary: Note: This fic is written for the Sapphire and Steel Big Finish audio plays. It has a separate storyline that continues from Wall of Darkness and is not to be confused with the original television series. Just be warned: Wild Imagination Zone Ahead.
1. Chapter 1

He waited and waited, in the darkness, alone. For how long, he did not know, but it was long enough for him to feel the numbing in his soul, the aching in his essence, the weight of time slowly eating away at his mind. At the same time, he felt as if no time had passed at all; as if time had frozen still and stopped short. It was contradictory; something was surely wrong, he knew it. He felt it. And he couldn't take that feeling anymore.

He had failed again. It was his second failure, and it tasted like dirt in his mouth. He had been so sure, that once they had figured the way around Transient tactics, it would never happen again. That it was just a matter of outsmarting the enemy, of being careful and constantly watching their backs. How very wrong he was. He didn't even know the enemy. He didn't even know the reality. That last assignment was only the beginning for him. The beginning of so many things.

He needed so badly to share his thoughts with someone, but the void was his only companion. Not even a café room this time, only silence. No jazz music playing in the background. No _background_.

 _No Sapphire_.

The childlike entity had thought them both amusing, but Sapphire less so, and had dispatched her to an unknown fate. Forgotten, he presumed. But he could never forget her. He longed to know where she was, reunite with her and find their way out of this mess together. That was his wish, but a wish he had lost all hope in obtaining.

The entity hadn't spoken to him for quite some time now; not even a cackle from it had been heard of since. Perhaps it had grown bored of him, and had found something more fun to play with. Perhaps it had grown up. Perhaps it was no longer a playful little child.

Or, perhaps, it had grown into something even more sinister, and was silently observing him, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

The thought of it triggered a sudden fear in him. Partly out of that fear, and partly out of curiosity, he called out,

"Are you still there?"

Silence was the reply.

He later found his fear to be irrational. What more could the entity do to him? Even death seemed like a more liberating alternative to the trap of darkness he was currently in. Nothing could possibly be worse.

To his relief, a familiar laughter echoed through the void.

 ** _Did you really think I'd leave you alone, Steel? How could I leave you, when I love you, love you, LOVE YOU?_**

Steel couldn't help but cringe in annoyance. Internally. But the entity was his only way out. He wished he had known that sooner.

"Contrary to what you're saying, you did leave me alone. Where have you been?"

 ** _How very nice of you to care, Steel! I thought you'd never miss me._**

"Actually, I don't. I just want to know where you've been."

 ** _You're so very stubborn, Steel. So very, very stubborn. I always knew you were a challenge._**

"Answer my question, _where_ have you been?"

 ** _Am I supposed to be entertaining you now? Aren't you supposed to be the one entertaining me?_**

Steel decided to play along with its game. "That's right. I was supposed to be your plaything. Your toy. Your source of fun and entertainment. But you abandoned me. Why did you abandon me?"

 ** _I never abandoned you._**

"Then _where_ have you _been_?"

The entity fell silent, and Steel couldn't help but find it very uncharacteristic.

"You mean... you don't _know_?" he realised aloud. "You don't _know_ where you've been!"

 ** _I never said that._**

"But it's true, isn't it? You're confused. You don't know what's been happening. Admit it!"

 ** _Ha ha ha ha! Steel, Steel, Steel, don't be ridiculous._**

"I am never ridiculous. There are things happening, strange things that even _you_ can't explain. There's been a missing period of time. I lost that period of time, and so did you. _That's_ why you've been away."

 ** _I didn't leave you. I'd never leave you._**

"You didn't mean to leave. You left involuntarily. Something, or someone, has taken time away from you. Away from us. For a period of time we ceased to _exist_."

 ** _I don't cease to exist. I always exist._**

"Oh, do you? How can you be so sure?" Steel challenged. "I've always thought that I existed in reality. It turns out that isn't true. I exist in a trap. In a fiction. So does Sapphire. So does goodness knows how many others! What if... you... What if _you're_ in a fiction as well?"

 ** _Who, me? Excuse me, I am..._**

"You lost time! Both of us did! We both ceased to exist. We are both trapped in fiction, and we lost time when someone stopped playing us!"

 ** _You're joking! Ha ha ha, very funny, Steel!_**

"You are fictional!" Steel affirmed. "We're all fictional! I'm not any more trapped than you are! You're not real!"

 ** _Ha ha ha ha ha..._**

The laughter droned on and on and drowned out all his thoughts. A white light pierced through the darkness, blinding him, and opened up into another world...


	2. Chapter 2

Pamela glanced at the clock. Half past seven. She sighed, wiped the beads of perspiration off her forehead and proceeded to gather the crumbs on the table. Stuffing loose change into her already-full pocket of straws, she looked out the window before closing the shutters. Traffic was horrid that evening. Not for waiting in- for dodging. She wouldn't be getting a car anytime soon, she reminded herself as she frowned at her reflection in the glass. Nope. Not anytime soon.

Finally, she finished cleaning up. Without bothering to remove her ketchup-stained apron, she grabbed her slingbag and dashed out the door.

All she wanted was to get home, take a nice, warm bath, turn on the radio, tuck into bed and get some sleep after a long, hard day at work. Unfortunately, home was two miles away. On foot. Approximately. Her feet were already aching from standing for ten hours straight. She hoped the drivers would be in a better mood that evening, since it was already Thursday. No such luck. Vehicles were honking madly, racing each other down the streets, and failing to stop for pedestrians. When will they ever install traffic lights? Pamela thought as she barely managed to avoid a zooming taxi. Finally, after fifteen full minutes of crossing roads, she reached the paved path towards her little apartment. The walk took another half hour.

The first thing that greeted her at the door and prevented her from entering was Mr Buckins' frowning face. Pamela looked at him pleadingly.

"The day after tomorrow. I promise," she begged.

"You said that two days ago."

"I mean it this time. I'm completely sure. You will have it all by Saturday."

Mr Buckins didn't budge. He stared at her with his beady eyes, and she looked back at him innocently, fearfully, waiting for an answer. But he didn't answer, which was a good sign, so she slipped past him and got through the doorway. He was still glaring at her as she started up the stairs.

"That or you're out, hear me?"

Pamela managed a timid 'yes' before closing her door behind her. At least for now it was still her door. Until Saturday, at least.

She had lied. She knew she wouldn't get her pay by then. Payday was twelve days away. She was already making plans for which part of the street she should sleep in on Saturday night. A nice wooden bench in Sommer Park wouldn't be too bad, would it?

As she was contemplating whether or not her grandmother's old scarf would be enough to keep her warm outside, she thought she heard a piano key. Or two. She put her bag aside and looked out the window. No one in the opposite apartments was playing any pianos.

Wait, why did she even bother to check? No one in the opposite apartments could even afford a piano.

She decided it had to be her lack of sleep. It was always her lack of sleep. Blame everything on her lack of sleep. Well, at least the next day was Friday, she could sleep in. Somehow that thought didn't lift her spirits any higher.

Pamela pulled open the shower curtains with her elbow, undid her coppery locks with one hand and turned on the radio to the maximum volume with the other. Then with her leg, she shut the bathroom door. She sighed. Privacy and peace at last. She had been sighing a lot lately. A lot for someone barely twenty-five.

Above the shower she could hear a popular love song playing on the radio. The melody was beautiful, but this time it was the lyrics that got through to her. It painted an unrealistic dream of finding true love and never being alone. She was so hooked onto that image that she didn't notice the hotness of the tears that had welled up in her eyes, or when they disappeared into the shower with the rest of the water.

It only came back to her when she thought about it again that night in bed, when she realised that the dream was not meant for her. One hundred percent impossible, in fact. But could it be- even remotely probable- that her reality was just an illusion? That another life- a better life- was waiting for her somewhere? That there was someone out there in the universe who actually cared for her? Maybe even loved her?

No, no, no, and NO. Go to sleep, Pamela, and stop dreaming. No more of such fairytale fantasies. I thought you knew better than that.


	3. Chapter 3

"Ruby... Is that... Is that really you?"

The graceful operator twirled around and her velvet-red skirt swished about her ankles.

"Yes. It is me. Who did you expect?"

"I... I don't understand. How did I get here?"

Ruby couldn't help but pity her disoriented colleague who lay sprawled on the wooden floorboard.

"Poor Steel. I don't think anyone has seen you look this lost before. But then again, things were so easy back then."

Ruby held out her hand, but Steel refused it and forced himself to his feet. After a quick glance around the old shack, his first question was,

"Where's Sapphire?"

"Slow down, Steel. There's really no need to be so worked up."

"I _need_ Sapphire. I need her so we can get back to our job and complete our assignment."

Ruby had to suppress a sigh. "There _is_ no more assignment. It's completed."

"But the trigger-"

"The trigger's been taken away."

"It's not. Sapphire and I were on _assignment_. We were just about to destroy the trigger when-"

"When you were trapped. That whole assignment was a trap. Or at least, a second-level one."

" _What_?"

From the next room, somebody cleared his throat and said politely, "Excuse me, Ruby, but I think _I_ would do a better job at explaining. No offense, really."

A red-haired man with a shiny waistcoat rolled out from behind the corner on a swivel chair. In his hands were metal tools and on his face was a kind smile. Ruby looked at him wearily and uttered, "None taken."

"Silver," Steel mumbled.

"Hello, Steel. I was just assisting our friend Ruby with some complex _machinery_. She knows how good I am with these, I must say she called the perfect man for the job. What queries do you have, Steel?"

" _Where am I_."

"You, Sapphire and Ruby had been assigned to this abandoned shack. A disastrous combination, I must say. The entity that has been after the three of you for quite some time trapped you and Sapphire in a work of fiction. Ruby destroyed the trigger, and the assignment is complete. But no one knows where the both of you have gone, or when you're ever coming back. That's why Ruby summoned me to build a communication device that can connect directly to both of your minds. It's still undergoing testing, so I don't understand how you're out of the trap already, Steel, with Sapphire still missing."

"And what about that second-level you mentioned, Ruby?"

Ruby stepped forward. "It turns out that _this_ is a trap as well. All of this, is a first-level trap. A first-level fiction. The assignment where the entity trapped you and Sapphire in is a second-level fiction."

The pieces clicked now. "So that was how..."

"How what?"

"That was how I escaped from the trap! I realised that the entity itself was fictional. That was how I freed myself from it, from what you call the _second-level_ trap."

"And what about Sapphire?" Ruby asked, dissatisfied.

 _What about Sapphire?_ Steel asked himself. When no answer came to his mind, he lowered his head to stare down at the floorboard.

"I certainly don't look like I know that, do I?"

The words came out less stern than he had intended. Silver watched him with a rare concern.

"Don't worry, Steel, leave that matter in my capable hands. As soon as I've made sure the machine is running smoothly, we can use it to communicate with Sapphire."

"Get on with it."

Knowing Steel, Silver simply smiled, snorted, and swivelled over to the room next door.

"Now," Steel turned to Ruby, "How do we get out of this... first-level trap?"

"We don't," she said calmly.

"What?"

"We _don't_ get out of it. We never do. We've been in it all along, since the beginning of Time."

Ruby strolled out the door of the shack and stepped out into an open field. The shack was situated on a grassy hill. Afternoon rays from the sun overhead brushed life onto the luscious green blades. She needed some fresh air after the hours spent working indoors with Silver.

"What are you talking about? How do you know this?" Steel demanded, following her outside. He squinted from the glaring light, unaccustomed to the brightness after being trapped in the dark for so long.

"We have always been," Ruby said, her voice distant, her eyes on the fields of grass.

"Been what?"

"Fictional."

Steel forced his eyes to follow her gaze. Perhaps if he got into Ruby's mood and saw what she saw, he might just understand what she was saying.

"I have a _right_ to exist in reality. We all have that right. Who- or what- took it away?"

"No one did. We never had that right."

" _That's impossible_."

He knew it wasn't. He wished it was. He could sense Ruby beginning to lose her patience with him.

"How far does this... fiction... extend to? To Sapphire and I? To you, Sapphire and I? To Silver? To what?"

Ruby closed her eyes and exhaled deeply.

"To all of us and to everything that concerns us."


	4. Chapter 4

In an hour, Silver was already adding the finishing touches to his creation. He smiled as he carefully fixed a glass screen onto the machine and dusted it.

[It's ready.]

Outside, Steel and Ruby were leaning against the shack and watching the swaying grass. Upon hearing Silver's message, Steel headed inside briskly. Ruby lingered for a few moments for a last glimpse of the sun before following him in. They entered the room where Silver was in, admittedly impressed by the outcome of his efforts.

"This machine has the power to harness our mental energies to penetrate other realities," Silver explained as he rested an arm on the machine. "In other words, with our combined efforts, we can use it to communicate with Sapphire, regardless of whatever fiction she might be trapped in. I really like how it gleams in the afternoon light. Pretty, don't you think?" The technician patted the screen brightly.

"Let's see if it works," Steel remarked, pragmatic as ever. Silver clicked on the switch and instructed them, "Place a hand on the screen and concentrate as hard as you can. Think about Sapphire. Reach out to her, and in your head, call out her name."

The three operators gently touched the screen and closed their eyes. Each one thought about their mutual friend and what she meant to them.

Ruby had never been that close to Sapphire, but she had always admired her, envied her even, for her status. Sapphire's beauty, talent and personality all contributed to her popularity in equal measure. Being a later addition to their community, her powers were the newest. A few other operators possessed one or two of her individual abilities, but none had her special combination of them all. Ruby couldn't understand how an operator could be as all-rounded as Sapphire was. She never doubted her own abilities, that was for sure, she was proud of how music was her very soul and essence. But sometimes, she couldn't help wishing she had been born later and received the amount of attention Sapphire received. Being one of the older operators did have its advantages, such as being able to gain more respect from the others, but Sapphire had already broken that rule. Her beauty was another trait that made her a magnet for admirers, not to mention the two men who were in the room with Ruby at that very instant.

Silver had been together with Sapphire once before, or at least that was how it appeared. He first thought of her as very attractive, but later cared more for who she was as a person. They flirted openly, especially in front of the supposedly cold and unaffected Steel, but there was no deeper connection between them and they both knew it. Nevertheless, they always acted as if there was, and Silver continued to treat her with the same amount of charm and affection, wishing and pretending that their relationship had a destination.

Steel needn't think about how much Sapphire meant to him. It had been constantly nagging at him ever since she had left his side, so he needn't even consider it. Just one earnest mental call of Sapphire's name was enough to express all of his deepest feelings for her, and to reach out to her, wherever she might be.

The process of combining and broadcasting mental energies did not take long, for the screen flickered to life within a couple of minutes. The operators released their hands and peered at it. On the screen was a live broadcast of a young lady with coppery hair, sleeping soundly on a bed in a small and old apartment.

Steel glared at the screen. "Who is that?"

"That went a lot faster than I expected," Silver said uneasily, mostly to himself.

"Explain," Ruby ordered.

"Well, normally reaching someone in another reality would take... a longer time."

Ruby began, "Are you saying that-"

"Sapphire could be in the same reality as us?" Steel finished.

"It's not a matter of could be," Silver replied as he used the controls to zoom in on the lady. "She _is_ in the same reality as us, taking the form of this human girl."

"How is that possible?" Steel turned to Ruby. "The entity trapped Sapphire and I in _fiction_."

"Not in the same fiction," Ruby corrected him. "You're forgetting, Steel."

The concept of different levels of fiction reoccurred to him. He remembered that the entity wasn't as interested in Sapphire and had sent her to another fate. To be precise, another _life_.

"Can you locate her?" Steel asked Silver.

"Most unfortunately I can't. This machine was built for communication, not location. But of course, we might eventually locate her if we observe her surroundings for long enough."

The trio waited for the lady to awaken. After what felt like only ten minutes or less, Steel lost his patience.

"I want to communicate with her."

The other two stared at him.

"Why not? This _is_ a communication device, isn't it?"

Silver shifted uncomfortably. "Well, technically you _can_ do that, Steel, but firstly, she's asleep. And secondly, she might not really be Sapphire."

"What do you mean she might not be Sapphire?" Steel said quickly.

"There might be a possibility that she has lost her memory of being Sapphire when she transferred to this human's body. She could already be _living_ this human's _life_."

"Well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there?" Steel persisted.

"I suppose you're right, Steel, but the only way you can communicate with her now is through her dreams, and people aren't so rational when they're dreaming."

 _So many conditions_ , Steel couldn't help thinking. "There's no better time to do it than now. What's the worst that can happen? It _is_ only a dream for her after all."

"It will also be a dream for _you_ , Steel," Ruby piped up. "You'll be in the dream _with_ her."

"I am doing it," Steel made his voice firm, indicating that his decision was final. He glanced at Silver, who quickly understood. There was clearly no doubt about how badly that man needed his partner.

"Alright, Steel, just place your hand on the screen, look at the girl and call out to her in your mind. Remember that since she is asleep, you will fall asleep as well. You will meet her and communicate with her in her dreams."

Steel did as instructed, ready for whatever might happen next. He was ready for anything as long as it brought him a step closer to reuniting with Sapphire. Before long, his eyelids had lowered over his eyes and he had fallen into a deep slumber.


	5. Chapter 5

She was late. Again.

Pamela's hands worked like an octopus's, brushing her teeth and combing her hair while somehow managing to get dressed and ready under five minutes. She wasn't prepared for another tongue-lashing from the manager. He had exploded at her in front of a table full of customers, and it was beyond humiliating for her. Grabbing a bread-and-jam sandwich she had pre-made, she mentally checked if she had forgotten anything before rushing off to work.

She dashed across the blaring roads and busy streets without looking, keeping only her destination in mind. Vehicles were everywhere, and she avoided getting hit by every single one of them without even trying. She didn't see the miraculousness of it, however, as she was still concentrating on how was she was to get to work in just ten minutes. It had to be done, no matter how. She saw past the roads, past the signs and past the cars, until all she could see was the distinctly obscure entrance of CC café.

And she was there.

It was instantaneous, without dramatic sensations or sounds or anything of the sort portrayed in movies. She stared wide eyed at the café signage, too overwhelmed to move.

 _She was there!_

Before she could even begin to marvel at her until-now-impossible feat of teleportation, a deafening honk of a car blasted in her ears. She hadn't even the time to consider that she might be standing in the middle of a road. The vehicle was far too close to dodge or face at, so Pamela simply squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for the impact.

But she felt none.

She opened her eyes very slowly, and turned to face the vehicle, or whatever it was that had prevented it from coming at her. A man in a dark grey suit, equally grey pants and blond hair, was shielding her from the big sports car with his bare hands.

The kaleidoscope of memories came in flashes, each one lasting only a milisecond. They took her by surprise and sent her gasping, and for a moment, time stood still. Vivid images flooded her mind, those of companionship, of trust, of closeness...

Of love.

It was all over before she realised it. Time resumed at its normal pace, and the man released his hands from the car. He looked down at his open palms, which were badly scraped and bleeding. Without a second glance at them, the man nudged her with his elbow, signaling with his intense eyes to follow him.

Pamela was in a daze, and complied mindlessly, not even noticing the size of the crowd that had surrounded them so quickly to view the scene. They didn't stop until they were at least a dozen blocks away, in a dark, lonely alley, far away from unwanted sight. Around them were several trash cans with overflowing waste, and cartons of revolting stenches piled up against the walls. No one would think of coming here indeed.

 _"Your hands!"_

For some reason, that was what Pamela immediately noticed upon first inspection of her rescuer. The palms of the man's hands were now unbroken, smooth, and scar-free. The man swept his gaze over them, then put them by his side as if he had seen nothing.

"Who... What are you? The Man of Steel?" Pamela exclaimed.

The man looked at her cautiously, his demeanor calm but his eyes still intense.

"Steel, actually." He took a step forward, then attempted in a most careful voice,

" _Sapphire_?"

For a second, Pamela thought she felt a spark of recognition, but it extinguished itself as soon as it lit up. Then her mind decided, _I don't know that name,_ and she continued to stare coldly at the man.

"You're not her, are you?" he asked again, his manner still guarded, but Pamela could tell that there was something pleading in the set of his grey eyes.

"No... I... I'm Pamela," she said. "Pamela Cardin. I... I don't suppose you know me, do you?"

"No," Steel said firmly. "But I do know Sapphire, and I think you may have... once... been her."

Pamela didn't know how to respond. It had been the most bizarre day for her, and it wasn't even the end of morning yet. First, she had teleported whilst running late, and then she had been saved by a stranger who could stop a car with his bare hands, and this stranger had impossible healing powers and was now mistaking her for someone she wasn't.

Or was _she_ the one mistaken?

"I'm sorry, I really wish I knew who or what you are talking about, but I'm very, _very_ late for work, and my mind is in a big, _big_ mess right now... I have no idea how you pulled that stunt with the car but thanks anyway, so... Bye."

She knew that her reply was far from adequate, but she couldn't possibly think of anything else to say in her fluster. With that, she turned to leave, but was stopped short by a tall, hooded man who completely blocked her path. His face was hidden in the shadows and could not be seen, but the way he calmly stood with his hands in his pockets looked alarmingly threatening.

 ** _Hello, Pamela._**

The entity's voice hit a nerve, and Pamela gasped in horror. Behind her, Steel's voice tried to reassure her, "Pamela, this is just a dream. _Your_ dream. None of it is real!"

The man advanced slowly towards her, and as he did so, he began to lift his hood...

 _"This is not real, Pamela! Not real!"_

But Steel's voice was miles away now. All Pamela could see was the entity and his face, and in it she drowned...

 ** _I have you._**


	6. Chapter 6

Steel's fingertips left the screen, and he suddenly collapsed. Alarmed, Silver and Ruby managed to catch him just in time before he fell and eased him to the ground. His eyes fluttered open, and as soon as they recognised his surroundings, he forced himself up to his feet.

"The entity. It's preventing me from communicating with her. But I might know where she is now, and I'm going to find her."

He prepared to make for the door, but Silver caught him by the arm.

"Now hold on just a moment, Steel. Sit down and tell us what happened."

"There's no time for that, Silver! The entity could be anywhere, at any time, waiting to strike, and we might just lose Sapphire forever!" Steel snapped at him, pulling his arm free from Silver's gentle grip.

"But how do you even know she _is_ Sapphire?" the technician pointed out.

"The entity was there. I saw it, and I heard it. Why else would it be there if not to prevent me from reaching Sapphire?"

"That's an assumption," Ruby countered.

"One that we can go out and confirm if we stop wasting precious time," Steel argued.

"Steel, you're not thinking rationally," Ruby piped up. "We have no authority to investigate this further. We were only allowed to communicate with Sapphire, and that was it."

"We now know _where_ she is, and we can bring her back!"

"No," she said firmly, "We have to report this first. We don't know what's at stake, and like you said, anything could happen. This is beyond our present assignment, and you haven't even told us exactly what you've seen yet."

"Ruby's right, you know," Silver cast Steel a look of concern. "You're far too rash for your own good. I know you care about Sapphire, but we care about you, Steel, and we don't want you diving head-first into some kind of unknown danger."

In the face of his friends' words, Steel had to back down. He forced himself to admit that he had been following his heart, and not his head. Now that they had located Sapphire, the next right step would be to return and inform their authority.

Reluctantly, he nodded to his co-workers, and the three teleported away to their home.

It took a while for the authority to respond to the situation, and Steel had no patience for that long a time. He had never returned from an assignment without Sapphire, and her absence unsettled him more than he would have liked to admit. When the authority finally called upon him, he was utterly disappointed to find out it was for another assignment- with of all people, Silver.

He had nothing against his colleague, of course, but he knew for sure that Silver would bring up his partner in one subtle way or another, and that he would not welcome it, no matter how considerate the intention. Therefore, he was quite surprised when it was two hours into the assignment and Silver had not brought her up at all, and was instead thoroughly focused on the task at hand. Even more so than Steel was, in fact.

The operator and technician had been assigned to a computer server cluster of a data center, where Silver's technical skills were definitely needed. They had been there for hours, trying to hunt down a dangerous entity that had been hiding in the hardware and altering digital information.

"Found anything?" Steel asked his colleague aimlessly. He knew Silver would have alerted him regarding the smallest abnormality.

The technician was struggling in a mess of plugs and wires. "Not yet, Steel," he answered in a strained voice. "Have _you_ found anything?"

Steel wasn't even waiting for a reply. He was sitting on the cold, hard tiles and staring blankly at the tiny blue lights emitted by the computer servers, his mind a million miles away. One of the tiny blue lights went out, but he was too distracted to notice. His thoughts were on the dream he'd shared with the human, Pamela. Those flashes of recognition and familiarity, he had felt them too. He'd almost sensed Sapphire's presence through the mental link he used to share with her, but in his dreamlike state, he could never be sure. He couldn't help but notice how closely Pamela's eyes resembled Sapphire's, those sparkling, glowing eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes were gone...

And so were the tiny blue lights.

"Steel!"

The anxiety in Silver's voice woke him from his daydream. "Are you listening to me, Steel? The servers are shutting down!"

Steel scrambled to his feet and glanced around. The blue lights of the servers were going out, one by one. There was an unsettling, reverberating buzzing sound, not coming directly from the servers, but from the core of the room itself. Silver fumbled with the switches, attempting to turn on the servers, but they all failed to respond.

"What have you done, Silver?" Steel immediately accused.

"Nothing! I was just examining the plugs, like you told me to!" Silver defended.

"Something must have triggered it! How could you not know-" Steel couldn't even finish his sentence, before wisps of grey smoke began to seep out of the servers, collecting in the centre of the room to form a dark, cloudy shadow. Steel and Silver watched in astonishment, for they had never seen anything quite like it. The smoking went on for a couple of minutes, growing thicker and thicker with time. Once all of it had come together, the buzzing stopped, and the figure materialised into a completely grey, humanoid figure.

The figure took a step forward, and immediately, the operator and technician felt a strong force pulling them towards it.

" _You will be stored as nothing but data_ ," a booming voice sounded, " _Lost in a chain of ones and zeros..."_

"Silver!" Steel cried, clinging on to a server rack for dear life. "We have to go!"

"What!" the technician exclaimed, his coat and hair flapping wildly due to the force. "We're not finished here, Steel, we can't leave!"

" _Ones and zeros... Stored forever_..."

"I said we are going!" Steel exerted his authority. "Mark, three-"

"But _Steel_!"

"Two-"

" _Nothing but a computer code..."_

"One!"

And they teleported, aborting the assignment, and leaving the figure screaming in bitter agony...

" _Noooooo_..."


	7. Chapter 7

The Authority was appalled; Steel had failed them. It was not that he had never left an assignment unfinished, but his heart was clearly not put into the one at the data centre. By Their standards, he was barely even trying. The level of difficulty was a mere average, and it was a mission they could have concluded swiftly and efficiently. Yet, Steel had let the situation go completely out of hand. It was not like their finest operator at all. Where was this man's focus? His spirit, his resolve? Apparently Silver seemed to understand the problem, and offered to provide an explanation for their failure on Steel's behalf.

The technician reported hastily to the briefing room, where he was greeted at once by a booming, authoritative voice:

 **Where is Steel?**

Silver began timidly, "Well, I told him to get some rest-"

 **We summoned him.**

"Yes, I am aware of that," Silver replied as he fiddled with his hands, "But there is something I think you should know about Steel... He's become-"

 **Incompetent**?

"No, _indisposed_ ," Silver finished. "You see, ever since he's escaped from the trap, he hasn't been taking the fact that we exist in a fiction very well, and Sapphire's absence has not been very helpful."

 **So this is your explanation for his underperformance?**

"Well... yes," Silver shifted uncomfortably. "But if there's something I've realised about Steel that most of us don't know, it's his _dependency_ on Sapphire."

 **We have observed that.**

"Well then if you have, why haven't you done something about it?" Silver snapped, and regretted it immediately. Sensing Their agitation, he flushed apologetically and carried on in a gentler tone, "I beg your pardon, but Steel has not been his usual self, and as long as his mind is elsewhere, we won't be able to work as effectively as before. Something has to be done about Sapphire, and for now we suspect that she is inhabiting the body of Pamela Cardin. Since that dream they shared, she is all Steel ever thinks about. You must at least give him a chance to communicate with her in reality if you want him half as alert and functioning again."

 **You sympathise with Steel.**

" _No_!" Silver denied, then paused to think for a moment. "Well... I mean I _do_ care for him, of course I do, but-"

 **We thought you were jealous.**

"Well, yes, I _was_. But that was in the past. People change, and I understand now that Steel and Sapphire _have_ to be together. They were made for each other, in fact. She fills in the cracks of his single-minded thinking, and provides him with insights that he would never reach on his own. Not to mention that he needs the support, the reassurance. Steel _needs_ her."

 **And your feelings for Sapphire?**

"I can't deny that I shall always have feelings for dear Sapphire. But I've accepted that her only future as an operator is with Steel. Yes, he may be callous towards her at times, but it is only he who can hone her abilities to the finest and push her to her limits. Things that I as a technician and _gentleman_ will never be able to do." Silver sighed sadly. "I thought we've already settled this. Why are we talking about it again?"

 **You seem to genuinely care about Steel's welfare.**

"Of course! What sort of colleague would I be if I didn't?"

 **And you sympathise with him, because you know what it would feel like to lose Sapphire.**

"Oh, I know that feeling all too well," Silver said pensively. "We certainly don't want to lose her again, do we?"

 **No. You may tell Steel that he is given all the means to look for Sapphire and bring her back.**

"Oh, that's wonderful!"

 **However, if she still remains to be found despite all efforts, you all are to abandon the search and resume active duty.**

"But-"

 **We are all expandable, Silver. We have lost many before you, and the loss of one more shall not hold us back for eternity.**

"Ah, yes... of course..." Silver said gloomily. "But don't you find that a bit dispiriting sometimes?"

 **We see that it is understood. You are dismissed.**

They watched as the element sped up and away through the void, alive and dashing again, leaving behind a glimmering, silver trail.


End file.
